Monday, November 19, 2007

Let's be honest, Buckeye, Wolverine, general college football fan: that had to be one of the most ass-boring games in the history of the sport. Seriously, the most excitement on my end was when the dude to my right offered me his extra rain poncho.

That aside, the atmosphere was amazing...if you were in the student section. They were loud from the beginning and right on through until the end. A tip o' the hat to you guys.

But that wasn't the norm. At least from my vantage point.

My buddy got us great seats, section 4, almost the 40 yard line...but apparently right in the middle of a fucking tax audit. These people had all the energy of a rotting corpse...which is almost an insult to rotting corpses.

On several "key plays," I turned to look at the folks above me to see what they were doing. I was hoping to see yelling, screaming and general noise making. Instead, I think I saw breathing. Although even that might be debatable. Hell, these people don't even shake their keys.

How pathetic.

Worst of all was when the Ohio State fans in attendance started their "O-H-I-O" going around the stadium. Thankfully, the student section stopped it since the cadavers around me were obviously trying to break some Guinness Book of World Records mark for quietest stadium section ever in a big game.

19 comments:

I sit in Section 4 but it's on the 5 yard line. Maybe you wanted to say Section 40. It was absolutely disheartnening when the OSU fan started that cheer and the U of M fans couldn't cheer loud enough to drown then out.

The student section was insanely loud, louder than it has been for the two years I've been sitting there. Also, I got the impression that there were less keys jangling around me on Saturday than usual.

My silver lining for that game was that I was in the student section. I may be ten years out of school, but I'm pretty sure I belong there and not with the alumni. There was certainly a general hopelessness in the air - even in the student section, but everyone kinda said, "fuck it, I'm cheering anyway - maybe we can turn this around."

I did the coins-in-a-bottle thing, and it was actually pretty loud. There were a number of other people doing it as well, but a lot of the students were asking me where I got it - apparently that e-mail didn't get around as far as they'd hoped. But perhaps this is the start of a change.

The second half, I was directly behind the marching band - when we have a third down on defense, the band pantomimes the jingling of keys. Perhaps they're not allowed to yell, but waving arms or something would be preferred.

From my perspective, the O-H-I-O chant was totally drowned out each time, and was probably pretty foolish by the Buckeye backers because all it did was keep our crowd in the game. If only Mario Manningham would have responded in kind.

I'm not sure that saying the student section drowned out the OHIO cheer is entirely accurate. On TV once it started it was temporarily inaudible, but after a few seconds, you could hear it quite clearly again.

Shame on the University of Michigan Athletic Department and season ticket holders for making so many seats available to Buckeye fans.

What I saw on Saturday in Section 40 Row 85 was nothing short of a disgrace. I'm standing up the whole time while men with more wrinkles that Lincoln's corpse are grunting at me to sit down. I'm screaming and jawing back and forth with Soccer Dads -- MIND YOU, WE'RE ROOTING FOR THE SAME TEAM -- because they want to enjoy the clean line of sight that comes with sitting down.

On a big third down play I look to my right. Yep, Section 39 is standing up. I look to my left. Yep, Section 41 is standing up. I look around my seat. NOPE, everyone on their asses.

This is a culture that needs to be destroyed. Oh, and the O-H-I-O chant...yea. You think Michigan fans get away with that in the Shoe? Hell no.

I sat in section 4 also. I think you ment to say section 44. Section 44, the rich alumni section, is and has been the worst section in te Big House. They are too wealthy to scream at the top of their lungs. Just listen to the M-I-C-H-I-G-A-N. On their letter... silence.

On another note, I haven't heard the student section so loud in years. They kept the noise up to the last few minutes of the game. Well done students.

No offense, but face it your crowd sucks in general. I sat behind a bunch of Michigan fans and loved it. They sat down the entire game. I, however, stood the entire game. You guys should be pissed that probably 5% of your crowd left with 10 minutes to go in the game. Not to flame. I'd love to see you guys get the Big House rocking. I've been to 8 out of 11 Big Ten stadiums and I've heard more noise out of Iowa and Purdue than at the Big House.

I've been going to Michigan football games since 1967 (I grew up in A2) and the sections under the press box have ALWAYS been deadly quiet. The student sections used to start on one side of the 50 yard line and the long-time tickets holders on the other. With the students in the middle of the field, crowd noise was a factor. In the late 70's, the students were moved a section toward the end zone, a movement that continued for several years until they are now WAY too far away to have a real impact on the noise level. I have always hated this move but I know it generates big $$ for the Athletic Department.

In an unrelated note- I was EXTREMELY disappointed with the residents of the houses/apartments on State Street near Pizza Bob's. It is not the Michigan way to throw beer on people from above. Show some damn class. I had to apologize to some OSU fans, and I hate doing that. There's a reason we are different, or should be, anyway.

I sit in Section 18. Same seats for 40 years. Half of the section is like a morgue or a funeral home which is where some of those people belong. My biggest gripe is the season ticket holders who sell there tickets on the internet for over face value. I'm tired of sitting next to the opposition game in and game out. That's why OSU fans can take over the Stadium. I asked the OSU fan where he got the tickets and how much and he said Ebay for $1200.00, (4 tickets). Is there a way we can stop this? I'm willing to be a narc in order to cease this atrocity. Let me know, I'm ready!!!

"Uh oh, third and long. Michigan fans are shaking their keys with such vigor right now. The funny thing is that in order to hear the keys, they have to remain silent. “Hey guys, shut up, they can’t hear the noisemakers!” Idiots."

I was in Section 39 and we were quite loud and into it throughout the whole game. The last time I stood for most of an entire game was when I was a student from '90 to '94. It's a shame there wasn't shit to cheer about though. Also, I agree there were too many tOSU fans there, though at least the ones near me weren't dicks.

was one of 3 OSU fans in whatever section is the OSU sideline, around the 40 yard line. no UM fan gave a rats ass when we did the O H I O chant (we were the H). half of the problem is that your team gave you nothing to cheer about except for a couple amazing punts. I've been to A2 7 times now, and this was easily the quietest i've ever heard that stadium. People were generally gracious towards us and it was a mirror image of how we felt in the 90's, so i didn't gloat.

in regards to how many OSU fans were there, i guarantee you it would have been 50% more had we beaten illinois last week. i know so many people who stayed in columbus just because of that.

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